Tuesday, September 02, 2014

An eight-year-old boy who did not want to abandon a pet turtle he had been given while spending summer with his grandma tried to smuggle it onto the aeroplane by hiding it in his underpants.

But Congcong Tai was caught when border guards at Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport in southern China's Guangdong province became suspicious by the large bulge in his trousers that appeared to be moving.
The youngster had been sent by his parents to spend the summer with his grandparents and his grandmother was bringing him back home when he decided to try and smuggle the pet with him.

Border guards spokesman Hu Hsieh said: "She had told him to leave the pet behind but he had disobeyed her and tried to smuggle it on board the plane. When the customs officials noticed he was trying to hide something, he tried to cover it up, and when his grandma asked him what he was hiding he tried to cover it up even more."

Eventually the old woman had told the boy to cooperate with the officials and she opened his trousers to reveal the hidden turtle.
But the incident had a happy end for the schoolboy after officials told him that if he agreed to hand it over, they would arrange for it to be sent to his parents' address and they could be reunited free of charge.
As a result the youngster boarded the plane, while the turtle ended up travelling in an animal box in the cargo hold.